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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Full Circle - Tying Up Loose Ends

Zander and Stacia desperately wanted to find glass floats before we left Japan. They didn't find them last weekend at Shipwreck Beach. Tomorrow and Monday are full. Michael suggested we head to Cape Shiriya Lighthouse (Shiriyazaki). It was fitting. Our first adventure in Japan landed us in this spot - purely by accident. We were looking for Shipwreck beach and had been told to "drive up 338" - no one mentioned you needed to TURN.... ::snort:: Directions are here. We found the spot at about 4:55 p.m. and were kicked out at 4:58 p.m. as they lock the gate at 5:00 p.m. That has happened to us once in four years! This is when we learned the meaning of "Dame, Dame" and the crossed arms. We popped into a Lawsons for quick road food....I LOVE nikuman and declared when I went vegan that I would have it one more time before we left Japan. Today was the day....

Pure Awesomeness right here - Curyman

This was a BEAUTIFUL DAY! Not too cold (we remembered Jim, Marvie and kids)...not too hot (last summer)....perfect. We started at one end of the beach and went to the fence....climbed under the fence and kept going.....in search of glass floats.

Zander found two floats right off the bat! His day was MADE. He made my day later in the day when he offered to hide one of his floats so Stacia could find it. I love his heart to be sure she wasn't disappointed.

Lighthouse from below on the beach

The horses haven't been out much this year...but I rounded a corner today and there they were!

I "think" these are tiger lilies. They were plentiful and beautiful.

What can that blob on the grass be?

Why, YES, it IS Arielle!

Stacia looked down in the water, up high in the debris, through every net she found....and didn't find a float.

She and I hit the fence first and we climbed it....because I thought maybe there would be floats on the other side....We didn't find any but Michael caught up with us. I told him Zander's plan and he said he was going to take Stacia to the point and see if they could find a float....We'd hide Zander's while they were gone and she could find it if she hadn't found one. She didn't know this plan. She knew the point was the last hope.

Zander left to retrieve a float from our van...and was chased down by a man in a van with sirens blaring. The man was yelling at him. I went to see what the problem was. OOPS...it was 5:00 p.m. We're always careful to follow the rules..... We climbed the fence as we guessed it was too keep horses in and not to keep people out. I tried to phone Michael but the cells weren't working (of course).

There was nothing for it but to send Zander to where Nolan now was, have Nolan run on to alert Michael and Stacia to the fact that a siren-blaring time-keeper was declaring the search over, while I continued to try to explain why I wasn't obeying and jumping in the van. Zander took off running and the man and I continued to try to communicate...."Gomennasai"....."Dame, Dame - Gate closed!" Finally he caught on to the idea that I still had family who we needed to locate. He told me to hurry and he would wait at the gate.

And look at THIS - the final Gherkin to find a float in Japan....at one of our very favorite spots.

They RAN to the van, we hopped in, and Mike DROVE....until this gal was determined we were not going any where fast! ::snort::

We waited for she and babies to pass....and then met the van heading back towards us...he escorted us out....things were a bit tense until he saw Stacia waving at him and then he was all smiles...and told me "Dijobu!"

Full circle - a fitting adventure to end this season of our lives in Japan.

I really can hardly believe we leave on Tuesday. It's all happened so quickly....I thought four years would be long enough in Japan.

3 comments:

PTL for the floats. Give Alexander a big hug and kiss from us! Give Stacia a hug/kiss also for FINDING her float. What a wonderful and inspiring story to tell ones children and other relatives in the future. WAY TO GO ALEXANDER.! love you all and can hardly believe it is time for you to hit Eugene and the on to Beale and then the wedding in Texas.